“Arboreal corpses”, this is how the Santa Cruz Parks and Gardens Bureau defined last summer the Indian laurels that are found in the vicinity of the Navy Command, when they analyzed the situation of these specimens within the framework of the project for the renovation of the islets in this area.
Then, as announced by DIARIO DE AVISOS, the replacement of up to 15 of these trees was already noted, since they were already in very poor condition. Now, almost six months later, and with the imminent start of the work next week, the first six specimens will be felled.
These are located in the part of the Rambla closest to Avenida de Anaga, specifically, in the section between the Doctor Pablos Abril square and Calle Esperanto.
With the entry of the new company responsible for parks and gardens, the situation of these six specimens has been re-evaluated, reaching the conclusion that, despite the fact that different measures have been developed to try to improve their health, these have not had the desired result, so the trees will be felled, which, the councilor of Public servicesCarlos Tarife, will be replaced by other laurels, “younger and more vigorous”.
As detailed in the report justifying the felling, for decades work has been done to study the causes and seek solutions to reverse the loss of vitality suffered by several of the specimens of Ficus microcarpa (Indian laurels), measures that in the case of the six copies cited have not had the desired effect.
The measures applied “have not had any reaction, and their condition seems to be irreversible (two of them are already dead). Likewise, from the point of view of safety, given its current state, it cannot be guaranteed that there will not be branches falling, which in this case are large branches, due to the lack of vitality of the trees” .
factors
The Bureau points out that, after having commissioned reports from specialists in the arboriculture sector and having set up a Committee of experts (April 2021), several factors have been determined that have caused the decline of laurels, such as stress due to the urban environment. (traffic, pollution, lack of soil, etc.), urban infrastructure works, age of the specimens (a tree in an urban environment has a shorter life expectancy than in a natural environment), climatic variations over time ( progressive increase in temperature and decrease in humidity), greater soil compaction and the presence of the Lasiodiplodia theobromae fungus, among the main causes.
The measures that have worked in most trees have consisted, for example, of increasing the dose of irrigation water through works, such as the installation of flooding wells in the area of the laurels of the Indies (year 2020), or the pilot project for the construction of infiltration wells (chimneys, still in force), to which must be added the nutrition program and treatment with different products.
